One of the best football players to come out of Ottawa in recent years, University of North Carolina senior cornerback Patrice Rene says he will bounce back from a torn a torn right ACL suffered in the first half of a win over Miami on Saturday.

Rene started playing minor football in Orleans at age 11 and then trained with Gridiron Academy starting at age 13. While he’ll be sidelined for the remainder of this college football season, Rene has a year of eligibility remaining and could return to North Carolina next season.

Rene started all 11 games in 2018 and had 31 tackles, two interceptions, five pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

The 6-foot-2 Rene transferred to Episcipal High School in Alexandria, Va., for his junior and senior years of high school. When he committed to North Carolina, he was considered a four-star prospect by Rivals — rated the No. 7 player in the state of Virginia and the No. 22 safety in the country.

One local report said Rene showed up to North Carolina’s training camp a month ago wearing a hard hat, construction vest and goggles — saying the season would be “about business.”

In a Twitter post, Rene, who was recently inducted into the Myers Orleans Bengals Football Hall of Fame, wrote: “One of the greatest lessons football has taught me is how to overcome adversity. In life, it is important to understand that things will not always go according to plan, just like in a game. Everyone faces and deals with adversity. How a person surpasses adversity is what truly defines them. Through the help of my family, friends and most importantly God, I will overcome anything. I have faith in myself. I will not give up on my dreams and will continue to work until I achieve them.”

It’ll be interesting to see where Rene lands on the upcoming CFL Scouting Bureau draft rankings — he should be near the top. He will also definitely be on the radar for the NFL Draft.